As a business owner you have probably heard that you need to engage in content marketing. But can your business can really benefit from using content?
There is a lot of "noise" in the social media and marketing space about content and blogging, and so on. But there seems to be little agreement on clearly defined methods, strategies, and - most importantly - real benefits from using content.
But there are reliable and tested strategies for effective content marketing. And there are real benefits.
The truth is that content marketing, or inbound marketing as we call it, can far out-do more traditional outbound marketing tactics and for far less costs.
What You Can Do With Content Marketing
A comprehensive list of how inbound marketing can benefit your business would take a much longer post than this. But if we were to narrow them down to, say, the top five they would be these:
1. Influence Your Target Market Audience
Blogging, for example, will help you nurture existing relationships with prospects and customers. In addition, consistent posts with actionable value will provide thought leadership to your audience, and position you or your company as an expert in your field, or industry.
2. Decrease Your Marketing Costs
Content marketing can be far cheaper and more effective in comparison to outbound marketing. So what is the actual cost of inbound? Lead to lead, inbound marketing costs 62% less than traditional outbound marketing (HubSpot).
Content publishing platforms such as blogs and social media channels are, for the most part, free or at least very inexpensive. When inbound marketing is done strategically and well, the money invested can give the highest return on with greater lead conversions and lower costs.
3. Provide Real Marketing ROI
Part of the age old problem with traditional marketing methods is the lack of quantifiable ROI metrics. Broadcast media and print ads have impact, but it is notoriously difficult to track. Inbound marketing, however, uses real-time data that provide insights as to what what is working and what needs to be tweaked.
For example, data tracking visitors to your company website and their activities there allows you to see the precise impact of your inbound marketing strategy.
4. Maintain Traction In Your Market
It's never enough to reach out to your market randomly or sporadically. By consistently and regularly creating and sharing content through inbound marketing, you will attract and keep an audience that cares about what you do and the problems you solve.
You will earn their trust, loyalty, and respect with content and thought leadership, while providing them with value.
5. Get A Decisive Edge Over Your Competition
Content marketing helps you stay ahead of your competition who are probably trying to reach your same audience. While the others invest in trade shows, paid advertising, and publicity, these efforts are, at best, one-off tactics that do not maintain impact. With inbound marketing, however, your content creation and promotion creates assets that you own and can use over and again to deliver value over time.
Five Reasons Content Can Boost Your Business
This infographic illustrates the top five ways your business will benefit from a well-designed and implemented content-based inbound marketing strategy:
Making Content Marketing Work for You
Content marketing is typically viewed as the foundation and backbone of an effective inbound marketing strategy. High-quality, relevant, and consistent content is the key to attracting, winning and keeping prospects, leads, and customers.
This content can take the form of blog posts, ebooks or white papers, video, email and even the pages on your website.
However, a big challenge for many business owners is how to create and publish this never-ending need for fresh content? The next bigger challenge is determining how to best distribute and use the content in order to actually implement a real marketing strategy?
It is certainly possible for a business owner or marketing manager to generate all of their own content, develop an inbound marketing plan, and implement it all by themselves. But the truth is that it takes time and it takes a variety of skills and knowledge that most business owners don't have already, or don't have the time to acquire.
One of the best solutions for this challenge is to hire a local inbound marketing agency to manage and execute your Internet marketing for you. Because the plan can be custom fit to your business size and your particular needs, the cost to you for outsourcing can be comfortably affordable.
Inbound Marketing Can Be Your "Game Changer"
A number of terms are used to describe essentially the same thing, such as "content marketing", "digital marketing", "social media marketing", and so on.
We prefer the term Inbound Marketing. Here's why...
According to Hubspot:
"Inbound marketing focuses on creating quality content that pulls people toward your company and product, where they naturally want to be. By aligning the content you publish with your customer’s interests, you naturally attract inbound traffic that you can then convert, close, and delight over time."
This content typically takes the form of blog posts aligned with periodic ebooks and even email campaigns. The end result is a cost-effective, multi-faceted marketing strategy that not only attracts ideal leads, but deepens the relationships with customers and clients, while positioning a company as an influencer and thought leader in it's industry.
Regardless of which term you prefer to use, the approach of inbound marketing holds great promise for your business.
But achieving these objectives with your content marketing strategy takes time. It won't happen with a few blog posts or great ebook. People will need to consume your content for a while before they contact you. Yet, without your content compelling them to contact you, your goals may never be met.
Content and inbound marketing work day in and day out. Once you post a blog article or upload a Slideshare piece, it is always there, working to educate and compel people to become leads. And when they do come to you, they are educated, informed, and much more likely to make the decision to buy.
Get your Free Complimentary Inbound Marketing Session to help you make an informed decision or call BroadVision Marketing at 707-799-1238. And take a moment to download this informative resource entitled"10 Powerful Inbound Marketing Charts" to support your own marketing efforts!
